Hopes and Expectations for Macworld
Macworld is only days away and all the Apple geeks (myself of course included) are chowing down our fingernails with anticipation. So here’s what I except (and dream) for this Macworld:
iWork
There’s little doubt that Apple will release a new version of iWork — as they have the last two years — this month. What exactly will be contained in said new version is up for speculation.
Hope: iWork ‘07 will include a spreadsheet app. Pages (word processor) will include a format that’s practical for actual word processing. Apple will ditch their stupid proprietary formats (that a whopping 0.001% of other people on the world can actually read) and make OpenDocument standard. They’ll ditch the stupid 20-bazillion-step export menu and allow you to save as different formats under… and I’m just throwing this out here… the Save As menu?
Expect: iWork ‘07 will include a spreadsheet app (this has been well documented on Apple rumor sites. TUAW ran a story earlier today including what could be a real screenshot of the app — speculatively being called “Numbers” and “Charts”). Pages will include a format that’s practical for actual word processing. Apple will keep their dumb proprietary standard as default, but they’ll support OpenDocument (this is based on the fact that builds of Leopard for some time have been able to view ODF files in TextEdit — Apple generally seems to do things like that across the board. The reason I don’t expect it to become default is… well… this is the company that brought us “FairPlay”). I don’t know about the Save As thing. Saving stuff under the Save As menu is pretty wild and crazy.
iTunes
Hope: iTunes 8 will be released. Unlike iTunes 7, it won’t require intentional suppression of the gag reflex. Apple will allow you to “trade in” all those crappy 320×240 videos they sold for the year between fall 2005 and fall 2006 for the much nicer 640×480. iTunes 8 will allow you to rip and burn DVDs. FairPlay will be eliminated.
Expect: Nothing.
Leopard
Leopard is, of course, the successor to OS 10.4 Tiger. I have to say, I was incredibly unimpressed with what I saw demoed at WWDC this past August. (In Leopard’s defense, I was watching the keynote over a choppy internet connection — the reality distortion field might not function properly in such an environment)
Hope: Leopard will have a completely new finder. Software Update will have an API, meaning apps could seamlessly tie their updates into it — no more downloading updates to update Microsoft Update or constantly monitoring sites to see if a new version is out. One simple, easy update. Spotlight will search OpenDocument and OpenXML (Microsoft OpenDocument knock-off) files. Leopard will allow you to remove idle drives without ejecting them and without data loss. Safari will ditch the rather obscure KHTML and instead pick up the far more standard Gecko 1.9 (when it’s done).
Expect: Leopard will have minor overall visual improvements. Spotlight will search OpenDocument and OpenXML files (again, I think if it’s going to TextEdit, it’s going everywhere). iChat will allow you to communicate with more networks than just AIM and Jabber. Safari will see some overall refinements. Most (but not all) remaining brushed metal will be removed and replaced with either Illuminous (see below) or Unified.
Fear: “Illuminous” (i.e., Windows Aero). Also, anything that looks like iTunes 7.
.Mac
Hope: Service will be made free.
Expect: Nothing.
iPhone
Until I read TUAW’s predictions I was really confident iPhone was coming. But I guess I could see it going either way now.